This invention relates generally to egg handling equipment and more particularly to means for orienting an egg to be packed within a receptacle.
It is generally known in the egg processing industry that a greater storage life is achieved when eggs are packed and stored with their narrow end facing downward. Various machines have been devised in order to accomplish such at packaging. Included among these packing machines is the one described in the earlier patent of Leslie P. Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,233 issued on June 22, 1976, which is also assigned to the assignee of this invention. Therein, the eggs are carried along an upwardly inclined conveyor which includes a plurality of rotating rollers. The rolling action causes the eggs to assume a position with their narrower ends in abutment with a wall disposed transverse to the longitudinal axis of the rollers. At the end of the conveyor a spring mounted plow or guide tongue 41 is positioned. The plows 41 are centrally located in relation to the pair of channel walls and cause the egg to turn as it is about to go over the top of the endless conveyor. The plow thus retards the large end of the egg causing it to pass down into a retainer with its narrow end downwardly facing. The thus oriented egg is then dropped into a clam shell transfer means which shuttles the egg between the retainer and the receiving bucket disposed therebelow. The clam shell moves so as to adjust the horizontal spacing between the eggs during their descent into the receiving buckets.
Various other orienting means have also been provided for use in conjunction with an egg conveying apparatus. In general, all of these prior art systems provide a means for engaging the egg as it is being transferred from the conveyor into a packing carton or the like. Although these systems have been generally effective, the applicant has discovered a simplified means for accomplishing orientation and transfer of the egg from a conveyor into a packaging carton or the like. In accordance with the applicant's apparatus and method, the transfer is accomplished rapidly and accurately without any undue number of component parts such as is the case with certain of the prior art systems.